Elendra - world map

[selden]

The continents look OK to me if one thinks of it as being on a planet where individual continents are just starting to separate again after tectonics formed a supercontinent. Maybe the mountains would be distributed somewhat differently, though.

[wreckless]

I like what you have done with the mountains coloring as well. I would err on the side cropping the ocean down to focus more on your land mass though, if you are going to keep the water a solid blue. Just a lot of open space with nothing going on.

[Juggernaut1981]

My thought is that your "mini Mediterranean" seems to be massively deep and steep (because of the colouring). I think if you filled that area with your "second level of coastline" blue it would drag back that section.

[Alvary]

Hey Guys

In the (many) months since my last post I have moved house (and state!) and gotten a new job...so work has been a little slow on Ellendra (Added an L to the name btw lol)

Anyway, here is my newer version. Of course still have a lot to learn with gimp, but I think I'm doing alright. I know the map is very cartoony and not all of the layout of the land makes sense. It's quite a large landmass, made up of 4 plates. Nepra's odd formation is magical (yay! fantasy mapping!) and the coast to the east is volcanic (partly as a reaction to nepra's formation)

Anyway, just thought I would pop this up while I have access to the internet!
Jessica

P.S.
Edit to add a larger version. I apologize that it is not a very detailed picture, I seem to have lost some of it in translation...*sigh* not too savy with moving images and converting them yet...

[arsheesh]

Hey Alvary, this is looking great so far. I really like the colors that you have chosen for this map, they are rich and vibrant, and quite pleasing on the eyes. Couple of suggestions. First the sea. The pattern (or whatever it is that you did to make those bumpy sea ridges) you are using is a bit defined. I'm not sure whether this pattern is supposed to represent waves, or sea bumps. If the former, brilliant! If the latter, it seems that they are both too well defined, and too numerous. I would suggest playing with the layer opacity of the this layer, or perhaps adding a Gaussian blur effect to try and tone them down a bit. Second, the mountains. The northern mountains (especially in the eastern half of the continent) are so obscured by snow that it is tough to make out any details. I would recommend erasing some of the snow, and adding another layer or two (underneath the snow caps layer) of blue-grey, grey-white, or something to try to represent variation in elevation. Overall though I really like this map so far. Looking forward to watching it progress.

Cheers,

-Arsheesh

[Ramah]

I like it. I would echo the sentiments of the others and call for a reduced texture on the sea but it doesn't kill the map as it is.

As much as I like it though I prefer your original version. Have you stopped developing that one now? Seems a shame to lose those lovely mountains.

[Rongar]

Hey there!

I also very much like the overall look, but I do have a couple of suggestions as well.

The forests look nice, but I think they are a wee bit too sharp and their contrast a bit too widely spread. The very light green parts catch my eye everytime I look at them. You could play a bit with their color curves maybe.

The mountais on the other hand - although wonderfully shaped - look actually quite blunt to me, as they're lacking detail. They would probably benefit from a new layer filled with solid noise or even felimage noise which then gets bumpmapped to them.

And lastly - the political borders. I don't know the background story to this world, but in some areas (like between Risha and Areland) they look too "straight" to me. I think they would look better with some fractalizing and distortion, to make them appear as if those countries really expanded unevenly by wars and such.

But this is me being nit-picky. Like I said, I do like this map and I think you've done quite a good job so far.

PS: I really love the rivers. The look very naturally.


Regards,

~~Rongar